Where The Wolves Read

Friday, February 24, 2017

Original Creator: The links I've been finding don't work so I'm not sure who the original creator of this tag is. :(

1. Name a book on your TBR that you haven't been able to finish:

There isn't a specific reason for this. I tried to read it years ago, and I never actually finished it. I'm going to try again, but this was the first book I could think of.

2. A book you haven't had the time to read:

I got the first 3 books in this series fairly recently and they can all fall under this question. I work at an academic library, so trying to find time to read books like this during the school year is hard. I've been trying to collect them so I can marathon (maybe?) the series when summer break starts. We'll see.

3. Name a book you haven't read because it's a sequel:

I read all the way up to this book and then I stopped because I know book 9 is still being written. I didn't want to be caught up with another series just to wait an eternity for the next book. *cough* GoT *cough*

4. Name a book you haven't read because it's brand new:

I got this in the January Owl Crate, and I just haven't gotten around to reading it. I love retellings, but I haven't read a retelling of Phantom of the Opera. I'm going to read this soon because I'm really stinking excited for it.

5. Name a book on your TBR by an author you've read previously and you didn't like their book:

I've had Icons for awhile and I just haven't gotten to it. This might be cheating, but I enjoyed the Beautiful Creatures series a lot. Then Margie came out with this book, then Black Widow: Forever Red. I read Black Widow already and I wasn't super impressed. It just didn't wow me the way I was hoping it would. I might give it another go later and read the sequel, but we'll see. I DO need to read Icons and Idols though since I have both of them.

6. Name a book on your TBR pile that you're not in the mood to read:

I read the first book in this series and I really liked it, but I didn't have the other books. Now, I have all of them and I'm just not in the mood to read them. I'm going to check out the audio version of Furies of Calderon to see if that'll help me get back into the world a bit.

7. Name a book on your TBR pile you haven't read because it's huge:

Sanderson, why do you write such massive books? Jeebus

8. Name a book on your TBR that you bought because of the cover, but it has also gotten bad reviews:

I read Hush Hush and I wasn't a fan. I saw a copy of Black Ice on Book Outlet hecka cheap, so I picked it up. I want to believe Becca can do a really good job with a book. I've also heard a lot of negative things about this book, so we'll see.

9. Name the book on your TBR pile that you find the most intimidating:

This book is massive, and literary fiction can be hard for me to get through. I've heard it's excellent though and I want to expand my reading tastes. Wish me luck.

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Summary: Kell is one of the last travelers--magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes connected by one magical city.There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, and with one mad King--George III. Red London, where life and magic are revered--and where Kell was raised alongside Rhy Maresh, the roguish heir to a flourishing empire. White London--a place where people fight to control magic and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London. But no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red traveler, ambassador of the Maresh empire, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.

Review: I'm going to be straight up and tell you this was a re-read and the Shades of Magic trilogy is one of my favorite trilogies of all time. Characters. I loved all of them. There has never been another book where I've loved all the characters. Even the bad ones. Kell was mysterious, but lovable. Lila was fierce. Holland is broken and I just want to hug him. I even liked the Danes. I found each of the characters unique and fascinating. Kell's ability to travel between Londons was a great way to experience the different ways magic has affected these seemingly similar places. Lila is my baby. Lila has this great attitude and just is not here for Kell's "I'm better than you because magic" bullshit. I need Lila to be my friend in real life. Just throwing that out there. Lila didn't let anything get in her way which is something I really appreciated. Regardless of the situation, she was willing to give it everything she had. Holland was fascinating. Is there a novella of Holland and Kell growing up? It would be excellent to see both characters learning how to craft their magic into what it was when ADSOM started. Rhy was such a fun character and (I've already read book 2) I know he only gets better and more complex as the stories continue. I do wish we had gotten more of him in ADSOM, but I think we got a feel for how playful, yet loving he can be.

As far as plot goes, I'm a sucker for parallel universe or alternate dimension stories. ADSOM did a good job of focusing on one specific city, but making it feel fresh and new every single time Kell traveled. I also really liked how the dual perspective narrative was handled throughout the story. It was nice seeing Lila's fresh take on everything and then compare it to Kell's experienced eyes. I don't know if this is because the book was a re-read, but there were some parts I found a little predictable. That didn't take anything away from my enjoyment though. From start to finish, I was in London with Kell and Lila. They had such a grand adventure for the story taking place in one city. I did use the audiobook to re-experience this story and I think it was a great decision. The audiobook was very well done and I had no issues getting into the narration. I'll try to stop gushing now.

Monday, February 20, 2017

Disclaimer: I have read through this entire series a couple of times. When the TV show was released, I re-read the books as they corresponded with the episodes.

Review: If you're looking for a series where kids go on an adventure and are back home with their parents at the end of the day, or a series where there is love and frivolity until the end of days, you should look for these more pleasant things. I, myself, have been quite invested in the Baudelaire children for quite some time. As a young child, I was fascinated with the horrendous things that take place within the pages of these books. When Netflix decided to make a TV show of the Baudelaire children, I was appalled. Why would a company as well known as Netflix make a mockery of such tragedy? Unfortunately, the show exists, and so does my continued heartbreak for these children. The first segment of the show follows the Baudelaires as they are put in the loathing hands of Count Olaf. The most despicable man of all time. Count Olaf is already a rubbish actor, but his performance was somehow out done in terribleness by the equally frightening Neil Patrick Harris. I quivered with fright as these two men became one and Count Olaf was brought to life once more. Patrick Warburton did a passable rendition of my dear Lemony Snicket. I desired nothing more than to jump into the screen and help him with the Baudelaire children. Let's speak about the children. The horrors they have experienced are indescribable. They were threatened and almost murdered numerous times. They have a commendable will to live that is unlike anything I've ever seen. They are truly special children. Sadly, that is not enough to keep them away from the upcoming tragedies. Now, I have learned Netflix is not done with the Baudelaire children. They plan on exploiting their pain for another season. Possible two more seasons. I will continue to watch for research purposes, but I implore everyone else to pry their eyes from the horrors within this series. I'm going to talk with the very favorable dissenters and see if there is anything we can do to keep Netflix from continuing this travesty. Good luck, Baudelaire children.

Friday, February 17, 2017

Twilight will always be my answer to this question. There are other books in series I hated more than Twilight, but I've completed the Twilight series so I felt it fit this question better than other books. I will say that I've grown a lot since I read this series. So, while I still hate these books, I can appreciate that they are the reason why the YA genre has grown to what it is now.

2. Name a popular series everyone seems to hate, but you seem to love:

Obviously, Vampire Academy has its fans, but lately I feel like people have been dragging this series. I feel like it's because they don't like Richelle's more recent books, so they feel the need to crap on VA as well. This series ended years ago, and the ending STILL sticks with me. I bought The Last Sacrifice the week it came out and loved everything about it.

3. Name a love triangle where you didn't like who the main character ended up with:

I'm not going to have the "Team Gale" or "Team Peeta" conversation today. I don't really have a preference between either of the guys, because I wish there was no romance at all. I get why it was there, but I still didn't like it.

4. Name a popular book genre you rarely reach for:

My two least read fiction genres are probably contemporary and historical. I've included pictures of books in both of these genres that I've read and loved, and The Book Thief is my favorite book of all time. So, clearly, reaching out of my comfort zone can be a very, very good thing.

5. Name a popular book character that you do not like:

Jace from The Mortal Instruments series. I hate him so much. I probably would have enjoyed this series a lot more if he wasn't a part of it. Oh well.

6. Name a popular author you can't seem to get into:

I had to read Ender's Game for two separate classes in college. This is supposed to be OSC's big novel, but I didn't really like it. The story was fine, but I couldn't get past Ender starting the novel at the age of 5. Plus, I just didn't like him as a character. I enjoyed the side characters, but not Ender. For the record, no OSC's personal beliefs had no part in my disliking of the novel. I'm pretty good about separating the author from their work.

7. Name a popular series you have no interest in reading:

I remember this series making its rounds when the NA genre was starting to take off. I heard it started as One Direction fanfiction. I don't have anything against fanfiction, but I don't like One Direction. Plus, I'm not really in the space to read a rocker romance blah.

8. Which book-to-movie adaptation is better than its source material:

I know this book has controversies surrounding it. As someone with disabilities, I honestly wasn't too bothered by how ablest the book was. Of course, I can see how people would be bothered, so the criticism is definitely necessary. I was really quite bored with this book. I didn't find it that compelling compared to other contemporary books I've read in the past. I did enjoy the movie. It might be because the movie sucked a couple of hours out of my life versus a few days. It could also be because I had a previous fondness for the actors involved. It was a solid adaptation so if you're curious, and you aren't bothered by the ablest tendencies, watch the movie. Skip the book.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Summary: David Smith is giving his life for his art—literally. Thanks to a deal with Death, the young sculptor gets his childhood wish: to sculpt anything he can imagine with his bare hands. But now that he only has 200 days to live, deciding what to create is harder than he thought, and discovering the love of his life at the 11th hour isn't making it any easier!

This is a story of desire taken to the edge of reason and beyond; of the frantic, clumsy dance steps of young love; and a gorgeous, street-level portrait of the world's greatest city. It's about the small, warm, human moments of everyday life…and the great surging forces that lie just under the surface. Scott McCloud wrote the book on how comics work; now he vaults into great fiction with a breathtaking, funny, and unforgettable new work. (Goodreads)
Review: The Sculptor follows David who is a struggling sculptor who makes a deal with the devil. In doing so, he gains the ability to sculpt whatever he desires. David was interesting to read about and I found his struggles to be easy to relate to. Except for the conversation with Death. I also appreciated that David still struggled after he struck his deal. Death didn't give him an incredible ability and David was suddenly set. There was plenty of conflict to keep the story moving. There were side characters that David interacted with throughout the story. One of them was Meg. She reminded me of people I knew in my real life which was interesting. I've never had that experience with a graphic novel. She is quirky and fun, but she has her own demons to fight off. There was a specific scene between her and David that I really appreciated, but I'm going to let you guys figure that one out on your own.

The art was incredible. I've only read one other Scott McCloud book, Understanding Comics, but that was structured completely differently from The Sculptor. The drawings were beautiful and realistic. Then there is the artwork associated with the sculptures David creates. Every piece was unique and striking. The struggle for identity that David goes through in the book hit especially close to home for me. The Sculptor is a big book, but it is definitely worth checking out.

Monday, February 13, 2017

Summary: Growing up, 28 year old Satoru has always suffered from "revivals" where he will jump back in time 1-5 minutes and have to fix some tragedy. After a series of events, his revival takes him all the way back to his 10 year old self. Through this, he takes it upon himself to solve a series of kidnapping/murders that occurred in his town.

Disclaimer: I have only read the first volume or so of the manga, but I've watched the anime in its entirety.

Review: This series gave me so many feelings. First of all, let's talk about the characters. Satoru was an interesting guy and I appreciated how the revivals were already a part of his life before the story initially begins. It gives us an idea of what kind of person Satoru is without being an info-dump about revivals. I can't talk about specific side characters without feeling like I'm going to spoil certain aspects of the story, but most of the characters felt thoroughly explored and fleshed out. I will say, some of the kids 10 year old Satoru interacts with feel a bit more mature than I would have expected, but overall this didn't pull my attention away from the story.

Now, for the actual story. The story in Erased was absolutely beautiful. There were so many heartbreaking and encouraging moments for the adult characters as well as the children characters. Of course, it wasn't perfect. On a personal note, I sometimes have a hard time with stories about people trying to fix mistakes and save another person's life. That being said, I enjoyed that this story had a thriller aspect to it, versus a strictly sappy storyline. One thing that I'm torn on was the length of the story. When Satoru goes back to his 10 year old self, we find out there were 3 children who were kidnapped and murdered in his town. A large part of the anime's story focused on only one of these children. Part of me wishes they gave the other 2 children a bit more of a story. That being said, I'm not exactly sure how they would have been able to pull that off without the story becoming repetitive. That was probably my biggest gripe throughout the series, but it didn't diminish how much I loved the show. I will also add that I found the ending a bit predictable. I'm curious to see if other people were blown away by it, but I saw the ending coming from the start. Still, I would highly recommend this for anyone. It's short enough so, if a person doesn't frequently watch anime, they will not be intimidated. It's also griping so anime veterans will have an enjoyable time following along with this story.

5/5 howls

Additional: Have a video of AmaLee singing an English translation of the ending and opening songs from Erased.

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Well, hello there. I have not posted anything on here in a hot minute. I thought I was done doing text based reviews. I was going to try to upload video reviews on my youtube channel for a variety of reasons, but that didn't pan out. I might revisit this idea later but, for now, I'm going to try to get back on text reviews. I miss doing reviews and discussing things I liked and disliked about certain books. So, here's oping I manage to get back into this.

About Me

*waves* My name is Kim and I am a bookaholic. *pause* Okay yeah really I read a lot of books so I set this up to try to review as many as I can. I'll also do video games and movies if I'm bored and want to review something.